


Teeny Tiny Centaur Steve

by athletiger



Category: Marvel
Genre: Centaur Steve, Fluff, It's always HYDRA, M/M, OctoTony addition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2020-06-29 23:45:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19841029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/athletiger/pseuds/athletiger
Summary: HYDRA did it. It's always HYDRA. Steve finds a creature about four inches tall with blue eyes, flaxen hair......and horse legs.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MountainRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MountainRose/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Teeny Tiny OctoTony](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1245634) by [MountainRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MountainRose/pseuds/MountainRose). 



> I would blame mountainrose (sharkyyy), but it really is kinda my fault. Shark encouraged it. So yea, I blame her. But also me.

Zola was right: for every head that Steve cut off, two more took its place.

“What is this? A fucking game of Whack-A-Mole?” Tony grumbled loudly over the comms.

“Language,” Steve absentmindedly said, throwing his shield ahead of him. He cringed when the words caught up to him. “Sorry, I – “

“Language again, Cap? Doesn’t it ever get old?” Even though Tony’s voice sounded flat in his ears, they’ve been working long enough that Steve knew he didn’t mean it. In fact, it sounded as if there was a hint of a smile on his face.

“Sorry,” Steve repeated anyway, catching his shield midair. “I’m just tired of HYDRA.”

“Aren’t we all. They’re not even creative anymore,” Clint groaned. “Like…at least make it interesting.”

“Last time it was interesting they cloned me,” Tony retorted. “Let’s hope they didn’t do something similar this time.”

“Point, but mini octo-you is so adorable!”

“Chatter,” Steve warned.

Steve shoved the last goon into the wall in a frustrated fit before he slammed the edge of his shield into the electronic keypad. He was tired of HYDRA’s shenanigans, to say the least. They had better things to do than to chase down every last bit of HYDRA that would _not stop coming out of the cracks_. Steve opened the door none too gently, taking in the men with the white lab coats staring back at him.

“I found the lab,” Steve said. “Sending you the location now, Iron Man.”

“Copy that.”

Steve gave them his best disappointed Captain America look. He was _not impressed_. “Get out, and we can do this the easy way. Stay here, and we’ll do this the hard way. Your choice.”

The scientists looked at him like deer in headlights, frozen in their places for two beats. Steve gave a heavy sigh, unbuckling his shield from his arm. The scientists chose to flee. Good choice. Steve tapped his earpiece as the last scientist passed him. “Hawkeye, the scientists are heading out.”

“So I don’t get to shoot them?” Hawkeye asked. He sounded disappointed.

As much as he wanted to kill them himself, he forced himself to reply, “No. Round them up for SHIELD.”

A muffled yelp from Clint, a thump, and when the comms came to life again, Natasha replied, “Will do. Over and out.”

That taken care of, Steve could focus on studying the room, noting the bubbling tanks, the glass cages, electronic equipment, and piles of paperwork strewn all around the room. Steve carefully walked around the room, making sure nothing jumped out at him. There was a blinking console at the center of the room – Steve marked that as something that Tony should take care of.

There weren’t any visible cues as to what HYDRA was working on. Then, the sound of a muffled shifting broke through the white noise, and Steve turned, shield lifted. There was no one behind him, but Steve was sure that he wasn’t the only living being in the room. A _click_ , then another one, _click, click, click_. It took what felt like an embarrassingly a long amount of time for him to zero in at the source of the noise, but when he finally focused on the lab desk at the far end of the table, a pair of eyes stared back up at him.

The words just slipped right out of his mouth. “Fuck me.”

“Who’s the one with language problems now?” Tony asked, voice teasing and light. Steve didn’t rise to the bait, choosing instead to cautiously walk towards the desk.

Blue eyes, fair flaxen hair, tiny hands pressed up against the glass cage the creature was in, steaming the wall with its…his heated palms.

_Oh god._ “They cloned…me,” Steve said in horror and awe.

“What? Again?”

“Yes,” Steve said, slowly relaxing his arm when it was clear that the clone of him wasn’t going to do anything. “He has…horse legs though. Human body.”

“So he’s essentially a centaur,” Tony said. “Half-human, half-horse.”

Tiny Steve was completely silent and still, completely frozen in place as Steve walked closer. If it weren’t for the fact that Tiny Steve blinked every few seconds, Steve would have thought he was a doll.

“Yeah, that sounds pretty apt.”

“Cool, looking forward to seeing what HYDRA’s come up with this time. Almost there.”

When Steve was a few steps away, Tiny Steve began to skitter back, his hooves clicking against the floor. Steve froze, and in the distance came the tell-tale sign of Tony approaching the room.

“J, let’s copy the files to our server and delete the rest. Blow this popsicle stand when you’re done,” Tony said through his helmet before he spotted Steve and approached him.

“Files transferring, sir,” JARVIS responded.

“Good.”

“Iron Ma-” Steve began to say as Tony took off his helmet, “we’re still on mission. What are you doing? Put your helmet back on!”

Tony gave him a cheeky grin. “Relax, Cap, it’s just us. Everyone else has been captured. Well, us and…aren’t you cute?” Tony crouched down to plant his face next to the glass cage. Tiny Steve was pressed against the furthest edge of his glass prison, switching his gaze between Tony and Steve.

“Tony, you’re scaring him,” Steve tried again. He tugged on Tony’s shoulder, and thankfully, Tony backed off willingly.

Moving back even further, Steve kept his eyes on his mini counterpart, and he said gently, “We’re not here to hurt you.”

Steve and Tony waited with bated breath as Tiny Steve slowly uncurled himself and approached them again cautiously. His head was tilted, and he stared at them less with fear now and more with curiosity.

“Can we come forward?” Tony asked. After a beat, Tiny Steve nodded.

As one, Steve and Tony moved closer to the cage, making sure that their movements were large and exaggerated and slow to signal that they weren’t there to hurt him.

“Sir, download’s complete, shall I begin the self-destruction process?” JARVIS’s voice came through the speakers, and Tiny Steve shrank back in surprise.

“Whoa there, it’s just JARVIS.” Tony lifted the helmet to eye level. “He’s a…non-human being, a bit of my handler and…oh, he’s a friend. Nothing to fear, and JARVIS? Yes, engage.”

“Yes sir.”

“Mini Tony could use a friend, think you’d be okay if we take you back?” Tony asked.

Steve made a noise, and Tony looked at the larger counterpart. “He’s probably the same as mini-me. We’ll do tests and all that, but it’ll be good for mini-me to have his own mini-Steve, don’t you think? Because if you’re not gonna keep him, I’m gonna.”

With those wide chocolate brown eyes giving him those puppy eyes, Steve couldn’t help but cave. Under no conditions could he ever resist those orbs, and Steve gave a slight nod of approval just so that he could see Tony grin happily. He turned back to Tiny Steve. “Is it alright if we take you home?”

Tiny Steve was more expressive than his larger counterpart, and his face scrunched up in thought before it smoothed out and he nodded. He trilled, and Steve smiled. He placed his hand into his cage, palm up, and Tiny Steve leapt directly onto his palm before he folded his legs under him, settling comfortably there in the center of his hand.

The creature was adorable, and it took a lot of concentration and will for him not to melt under the cuteness of his clone. Steve hitched his shield behind him and looked at Tony.

“Take point?”

Tony nodded. He put his helmet back on.

“Alright, let’s go.”

-

“They can’t even be creative with their cloning experiments?” Clint groaned when Steve and Tony approached the Quinjet. Tiny Steve was looking around with wide eyes, awed and stunned by everything he saw. His tiny hands gripped the edge of Cap’s glove, staring at the fascinating new world he was in. “How did they even get your DNA anyway?”

“I have no idea,” Steve admitted, cradling his tiny counterpart carefully in his hands. “We really need to figure out how the got my DNA and Tony’s as well.”

“Yours is more dangerous if it gets into the wrong hands,” Tony said. “Good thing this was a clone too and not a true supersoldier.”

“Is he even a supersoldier?”

Tony stood by one of the on-board holoscreens and flicked rapidly through massive amounts of data on the screen. “I don’t think HYDRA tested that far yet. Files here state that he was engendered twelve hours ago.”

“We really need to get down to how they’re getting our DNA. This is getting out of hand.”

“If you can figure out how to stop shedding DNA around the world Steve, then we wouldn’t have to worry about this. In the meantime, however, all we can do is take down HYDRA as they come up and hope that they haven’t figured out how to weaponize any blood you’ve spilled during our fights.”

Bruce came over with a Q-tip, encouraging Tiny Steve to do a swab test. “He didn’t need any water like Octopus Tony, does he?”

Steve shook his head. “He was in a cage. No water.”

“Makes sense. He’s a land creature.” Tony came over and crouched down to peer at Tiny Steve again. Steve watched as Tony smiled gently at his mini clone in the same way Tony smiled at his own octopus clone. 

He just wished that that smile would be directed towards him. Someday perhaps. “Hey there,” Tony said gently, “Do you need anything? Water, food?”

Tiny Steve trilled at him before looking up at Steve. He leaned to the side, pressing his tiny hands to Steve’s lick of skin not covered by his glove. Immediately, as soon as his tiny fingers brushed against the pad of Steve’s thumb, Steve felt everything his tiny counterpart was feeling: contentment, happiness, a little bit thirsty, a little bit hungry.

It was a weird feeling, feeling emotions that weren’t his...but it also felt right, as if this tiny creature filled an empty section of his soul that he didn’t know he was missing before. Tiny Steve was grinning at him, and Steve couldn’t help but send warmth back towards him.

“He could use some food and water,” Steve relayed to Tony. Tony turned around to get the supplies Tiny Steve requested, and Steve looked at his back longingly. So focused on staring at the man, he was not prepared for the onslaught of arousal that filtered into his mind, and it took all of his concentration to tamp down the sudden feeling and bulge in his pants.

He glared down at the culprit, disgruntled at the fact that his former heady high was interrupted by...something much less innocent. “You’re a menace,” he growled under his breath, removing his hands from his naked thumb. Tiny Steve looked back at him innocently.

He was not buying it.

“You say something?” Tony came back with a bottle of water and a granola bar.

“No,” Steve denied. He would never tell Tony what happened, cross his heart and hope to die.

Tony gave him a _look_. “I swear I heard you say something.”

“It’s nothing.” Steve was too embarrassed to look at Tony. He was sure he was blushing. Inadvertently, that put him in a position where he was looking down at his palms and…Tiny Steve who was giving him a wicked smirk. He couldn’t take this anymore. Steve stretched his hand out blindly in the direction that Tony was in. “Just give them to me please.”

When Tony didn’t immediately do so, Steve looked up. Tony was smirking. “What?” Steve asked defensively.

It was like Tony knew something Steve didn’t, but he didn’t answer. Steve bit his lip. If Tony knew about his crush…

Thankfully Tony handed over the water and bar without further fuss, tipping a little bit of water into the lid and breaking the bar down into crumbs before putting the pieces in Steve’s palm. Tiny Steve munched on the food happily, oozing utter satisfaction for the rest of the ride home.

Steve was going to die of embarrassment.

-

Tiny Steve acted similarly to how Steve acted when he first woke up in the new era. Everything was new and big and shiny. For Tiny Steve, however, everything must be multiplied by ten because everything was _so much bigger._ The tiny creature hunkered down in Steve’s palm, barely peeking out from over his fingers, using the palm of his hand as a safe haven from the outside world.

“We’re home,” Steve told Tiny Steve. He stepped off the Quinjet and took a moment to let his mini counterpart take in his surroundings. It wouldn’t be home, not yet, just like the way it took a while for Steve himself to get used to the new world. But Steve was confident that he would get used to it.

Tiny Steve trilled and looked up.

“Yes, it’s safe here. I live here, and so does the rest of the team. You’re not going to be an experiment if you don’t want to.” Steve glared at Tony when it looked like he was gonna say otherwise.

Tony lifted his hands in the universal sign of surrender. “I’ll be heading over to see mini-me,” Tony said instead. “You coming?”

Tiny Steve seemed content to let whatever Steve wanted to do; his body was thrumming with excitement. And because he didn’t have anything better to do, Steve followed Tony into the elevator.

“Mini you is so cute!” Tony cooed, draping his body along Steve’s side. “I can’t stop staring at him.”

And Tiny Steve couldn’t stop staring at Tony either. _No shame,_ Steve thought viciously, looking at his tiny counterpart instead of Tony.

Because if he did look up, Tony would see how red his face is. No, it was better to duck down and pretend nothing was happening, even as Tony leaned more heavily on top of Steve.

Thankfully Tony didn’t do more than that. The elevators slowed to a stop and opened its doors. “Hey bud!” Tony called out. Steve followed.

“Bwubwubwee!”

Tony grinned. “Thanks. I missed you too.”

Tiny Tony was propped up at the top of his tank, excitedly watching them come closer. He blew bubbles at them. “Bwob bwob?”

Tony nodded. “Mission was a success, but guess who we found?” He turned…

And Tiny Steve was buried deep in Steve’s palm so that Tiny Tony couldn’t see him.

“Blwbbe?”

When Steve looked down, Tiny Steve covered his face with his hands, but even his fingers couldn’t completely hide the redness that stained his cheeks. 

_He was blushing._

And Steve was assaulted with a myriad of panic, shyness, love, and _desire_ . Tiny Steve peered up, wishing that he could leave because _he wasn’t ready for this encounter_.

If Steve was a little nicer, he would have excused them to retreat to his room. It was overwhelming to meet someone new, and Steve _got_ it. As it stood, however, Steve still had an evil streak, and because his miniature counterpart was evil and wingmanned earlier, Steve opened his palm and placed Tiny Steve on the countertop in full view.

The centaur slid ungracefully off his fingers, stumbling for a few steps until he got his legs under him. Tiny Steve shot him a dirty look, and Steve grinned back innocently.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

Tiny Steve whimpered under his breath, almost too soft for anyone else but a supersoldier to hear it. Steve smirked, watching as Tiny Steve stood there, head turned forward, frozen, wide-eyed, looking up at the mini octopus Tony, cheeks red and mouth open.

“Bwubweebwub!” Tiny Tony said shyly. His tentacles seemed to be redder than normal, and Tiny Tony was staring right back at the centaur. He pulled his tentacles over the edge of the tank, and with the suction, he crawled down the glass until he landed on the countertop.

They’re _too cute_ , Steve thought, watching Tiny Tony drag himself forward, sucking and unsucking himself with his tentacles.

Tiny Steve chittered back, walking closer, hooves clicking against the granite countertop. They seemed excited to see each other, blushing all the while, Steve noted, but then his thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. Tony looked at him, smiling gently.

“Let’s give them some privacy,” he suggested.

Steve nodded, but he took one glance back to see that the two creatures were already hugging each other like long lost friends.

They’re in their zone.

Steve wished he could have that, and he looked at Tony’s back longingly. Perhaps one day.

Steve followed Tony back into the elevator.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Arcade for beta-ing this chapter!

The communal living room was quiet. Well, quiet as in that there was no one but mini Steve there and the sound of the water filter bubbling in the tank with no mini Tony.

And the sounds of fighting in the distance.

As per usual, the Avengers were off avengering in the city, fighting against their latest enemy who dared intrude the city and overtake the world, and it left only small Tony and Steve in the Tower. Only, Steve was in the living room, and Tony was down in big Tony’s workshop because they were arguing.

Steve didn’t even know what they were fighting about anymore; he had forgotten what they were fighting about originally. It was just that, Tony could hold a grudge for a while, and so could Steve, them being just as stubborn as their big selves. Therefore, they were sulking in their respective places in peace.

It had been days since they have seen each other, and Steve’s anger and grudge was fading away into longing. He missed his friend. Every morning when he awoke, he would automatically turn to the tank and panic when he saw an empty tank before remembering that Tony was safe in big Tony’s workshop. And the grudge would fade away from his mind a little more.

He wanted his friend back. 

(He’d never admit it that he’s been longingly drawing Tony in his sketchbook, page after page, with shining bright eyes like the stars illuminating the night sky; his perfectly trimmed goatee on his face, every one of his eight tentacles, floating freely in the water. He was beautiful, every inch of him, and Steve missed him.)

Steve was about to work up the courage and face Tony, be the bigger man...centaur...and apologize to Tony (perhaps ask him out on a date too) when the Tower shook alarmingly.

Steve looked out the window: the fighting was a lot closer than normal, and it was dangerously near the building. Steve scrambled back as far as his small legs would take him, ducking into the kitchen as the Tower shook and the windows shattered.

He wasn’t fast enough, and he went airborne a few feet before he hit the drawer. His head banged against the drawer knob, and he collapsed to the ground in a heap.

“They attacked the Tower! Move back out!” big Steve shouted into the comms. With fuzzy eyes, Mini Steve peered through the kitchen doorway to see the Captain leap up off the couch and run back into the fray, sending his shield flying into the open air. “Iron Man, draw the line of fire to the Hudson! Widow, herd them over with Tony. Rest of you, gather and pin them!”

And then big Steve leaped over the side of the building.

Steve spent a moment admiring his bigger counterpart’s agility and leadership, brushing off the fact that he was sent crashing through the windows into the living room. But then the events caught up to him. If Steve came crashing through the living room windows, who knows what happened in Tony’s workshop?

For sure, big Tony’s workshop was reinforced with concrete and all, but still. The workshop could have been inflicted damages.

And small Tony was in there by himself.

Steve sat up, feeling woozy as he did so. There was something dripping down the back of his neck. He reached up. When he pulled his hand away, it was stained red.

But he had no time to worry about himself, even as he continued to drip blood all over the floor; he had to get to Tony because what if he was injured?

Tony should be fine, Steve tried convincing himself, but the words sounded hollow reverberating in his mind. He had to get to Tony. It was a struggle for him to tuck his hooves under himself with the way the kitchen was spinning all over the place, and it took him three tries before he could even stand with fragility.

_ Tony, Tony, Tony, _ Steve chanted under his breath, taking one slow step at a time. It hurt,  _ God _ , it hurt, with the way his head is pounding like the drum corps and his vision not settling. He may have looked like his big counterpart, his personality may have been the same as his, but if there was one thing HYDRA gave him that he sure was using right now, it was the supersoldier healing factor that his big counterpart had. And he was grateful that HYDRA did give him that.

It just wasn’t working fast enough.

Still, having Tony on his mind was a good motivator for him to not collapse onto the ground and give up, but it was a hard journey to get from the kitchen to the elevators. He went around broken vases, ducked under upturned furniture, dragging himself all the way to the human-sized doors in twice the amount of time than if his big counterpart was here.

It felt too long.

He had never travelled in the elevator by himself before, and as he looked up the buttons that were much too high for him to reach. 

JARVIS? Where is JARVIS? Steve remembered and looked up curiously, squinting through his blurry vision. For sure, JARVIS would have seen him by now and would have asked him to help. The spatial recognition would have allowed him to decipher anything Steve needed. Except…

The Tower damage must have been too great in the living room so that JARVIS was taken off-line, and Steve needed to do this the hard...hardest way instead. The stairs was an option, but in his state, it would take too long, and it would be too hard for him to climb down those large steps. He had to get those elevator doors open.

And once he did, perhaps JARVIS would work then.

Think, think, think, think! How would Tony do it? How would he get up to press the button? It was a spark of inspiration that flashed through his mind: ladder. He needed a ladder. Or a ramp.

With the fallen furniture, he could possibly work on building a ramp and build a ladder. Steve stumbled back into the living room, looking at all the fallen items. The furniture itself was too heavy for him to pull, but perhaps…

Steve looked into the kitchen, where a lot of utensils and equipment had fallen to the ground. Clint always left his dirty dishes on the kitchen counter, and they were all now strewn about on the floor. A ladle from when Steve was cooking soup before the Avengers call, cereal boxes, chopping board...he could use the chopping board as a ramp, and the cereal boxes as stairs. But it wouldn’t be enough; he needed more.

His skin was rapidly healing, and his eyesight was returning to him, so he glanced at the elevator doors again. The broken vase had fallen in front of the elevator, its stand tipping conveniently below the elevator buttons. 

Steve got to work, pushing the cereal box in front of him, one by one, until they were all laid by the elevator doors. Then he looked at the chopping board.

One tug determined that he wouldn’t be able to lug it across the room, but he wasn’t about to give up.  _ Think, _ he whinnied to himself, looking around. There were the overturned stools, tomato cans...ha! Tomato cans, three of them, and a fork. He took the fork and rolled the cans in front of him.

Using the fork as a lever, tucking one of Bruce’s many pens under the handle, Steve lifted the side of the chopping board so that he could tuck the cans underneath. One, two, three cans went under the chopping board so that it eased the transport. Steve pushed the chopping board forward over the side-turned tomato cans as wheels. It wasn’t easy, because he had to move every tomato can in front of the chopping board, stopping and moving every four inches. It was long and it was tedious.

He had to get to Tony.

Finally Steve pushed the chopping board to the fallen stand, and with one last push he rolled the board off the cans, creating a makeshift ramp. Then, he pushed the cereal boxes up the ramp and placed it on top of the fallen stand one by one so that he created stairs.

He looked at his creation, satisfied, then looked up. The smile slipped off from his face.

It wasn’t enough - he was still too short to reach the buttons.

Steve felt defeated, that he couldn’t make it, that he couldn’t see if Tony was okay or not, and he just wanted to curl up and sit down, never leaving the living room. Steve staggered back and nearly fell over when his hoof slipped off the cereal box.

_ No. _ For all his hard work, it still was not enough. Steve’s legs buckled underneath him.

_ Tony. _

His heart ached - he wanted to see him, but he didn’t know how, when his best work still fell short of where he needed to go. But his big counterpart would never give up, no matter what. 

And he, even in centaur form, he was Steve Rogers too. He might have been be palm sized, he might have been be mini, but he did get Steve’s stubbornness too.

Steve scrambled back onto his feet and raced back to the living room.  _ Think, think, think! _ He told himself, looking around for the  _ n _ th time and trying to figure out what he could use as another way to reach that final distance. The vase was too heavy, and it was shattered to pieces, not that, nor that, but…

Tony’s empty tank had fallen over during the attack, spilling water everywhere. The plastic tank was cracked and broken, and the heating lamp was flickering, but it gave Steve an idea.

He pulled Tony’s tank: heating lamp and all, dragged it across the living room, up the ramp, up the steps, pressing his back against it when it threatened to not move. It had to work.  _ Please _ , make it work.

The cereal boxes bowed under the weight of Tony’s empty tank, but it thankfully did not completely collapse. It was enough to close the final distance to the buttons. Steve took the power cord in his hands and lifted himself up, using it as a makeshift climbing rope. Inch by inch, he came closer to his target, fighting the exhaustion.

_ Tony, Tony, Tony,  _ he chanted under his breath, gathering his strength for one last burst and climbing on top of the heating lamp. He faced the elevator buttons and pushed “down.”

The doors opened.

Steve scrambled down again; the descent easier than the climb, and he leapt onto the elevator.

“Sir,” JARVIS said. “I apologize for being offline. The damages in many floors are extensive. Where can I take you?”

Steve chittered.

“Unfortunately, sir hasn’t yet given me a translation program to your language yet, might you try another way to communicate your destination?”

Steve wasn’t going to give up now. He needed Tony.

The pen!

Steve raced out of the elevator to retrieve the pen he had left with the fork, dragging it with him.

_ T - O - N - Y _ , he wrote on the floor.

“You would like to go to the workshop,” JARVIS deduced.

Steve chittered again, nodding frantically.

“Of course, let me take you down sir.”

It felt way too long as JARVIS closed the elevator doors and took him down to the workshop. He really hoped that Tony was okay.

Finally,  _ finally, _ the elevator doors opened and Steve burst into big Tony’s workshop.

Just like the living room, the workshop was a mess, with metal projects and paper strewn all over the floor, Iron Man suits fallen over off their stands, and…

_ Tony wasn’t in his tank. _

Steve chittered, worried. Where was Tony?

Steve walked through the workshop floor, walking over paper, going around projects, ducking under metal scrap to find his missing friend.

He found him trapped underneath a piece of rebar that had other projects fallen over on top of it. Tony himself was unconscious and sickly, yellow with dehydration from the fact that he hadn’t been in water for a while. Steve’s worst fear came true: Tony was hurt, and he needed water desperately. Steve crouched down, eyes wet with unshed tears, patting Tony on the face gently.

_ Wake up, wake up! _ He chittered desperately.

“Bwee?” Tony said softly. His eyes fluttered as he struggled to open them. When he did, Steve could see the pain that shone in his eyes, no matter how desperately he tried to conceal it.

Steve trilled.  _ You’re hurt, and you need water! _

“Bwubbwoobwee,” Tony replied, pushing against the rebar ineffectively. He needed Steve to move the fallen objects, and it was a lot of stuff that was on top of him. Steve eyed the pile with fear: he didn’t know if he had the strength to move them all.

For Tony though, he would find the strength to move mountains. Steve took a deep breath, then another one, gathering strength and will so that he could push everything off of Tony. Then he pushed.

Piece by piece, the things that kept Tony trapped fell over to the side, dropping off with a  _ clang _ and a  _ bam _ and a  _ clink _ . Steve kept pushing, and then he grabbed the rebar and lifted, groaning under the weight of it.

Steve chittered.  _ Get out, please, Tony! _

Tony answered, “Bwub!” And he scrabbled against the floor, tugging himself free from under everything, panting and heaving as he pulled himself away from his entrapment. Steve strained desperately, holding onto everything as long as possible before his strength failed him and everything fell to the ground.

But Tony was free. He was bruised, discolored with dehydration, but he was free, and that was all that mattered.

Steve’s tears fell as he collapsed beside Tony, clinging onto him desperately. He missed him so much, and he needed Tony to be okay.

“Bweeblubbwoob,” Tony whispered, hugging him back weakly.

Water, Tony needed water.

The tank was too high for either of them to reach, and the sink was too. Hopelessness curled at the bottom of Steve’s stomach. Tony needed water, and Steve was so very tired.

A hand scooped them both up. Steve was placed on big Tony’s workshop table, and Tony was settled back into his tank.

“Did you miss me?” Big Tony asked, looking down on them.

Steve breathed a sigh of relief, smiling gratefully and chittering his thanks before he turned to small Tony.

Already Tony’s tentacles were looking better, now that they were hydrated again, and Steve pressed his hand against the tank and then he leaned forward so that his foreheads touched the glass too.

Tony swam over and matched him, forehead to hand, and Steve cried happy tears.


	3. Chapter 3

They spoke to each other in two different languages. It should have been a barrier for friendship; it wasn’t. Somehow, it made them grow closer to each other instead, each one listening intently as the other chattered away, slowly understanding the language the other spoke.

But this, this wasn’t a language that they needed to speak to understand each other perfectly. Steve chirped at Tony, scooting closer to the fishbowl that Tony swam in. Sometimes Steve cursed at the barrier that they had that their human counterparts never seemed to have, with the fact that Steve was a land creature and Tony was...not. But their humans were so  _ dumb _ and couldn’t get their heads out of their asses to just get rid of the unresolved sexual tension that  _ everybody _ could taste. Tony blinked sleepily at him and swam over, pressing a hand against the glass to where Steve’s hand was. Steve hated it, this barrier - he had no problems telling his Tony that he loved him, and Tony knew.

It was late at night, and the living room was dark, illuminated only by the emergency light by the elevator. It wasn’t cold thanks to the Tower’s moderated temperature, but Steve shivered all the same because Tony always did that to him. He just wanted to feel Tony in his arms. 

Tony blew bubbles at Steve, making him blush. Steve chirped again before pressing his face into the glass of Tony’s tank and blew a raspberry. He grinned when Tony rolled in laughter. Then, Tony swam over to him and gave him a heated look. Steve blushed, watching as Tony swam up to the rim of the fishbowl and climbed over.

Ever since the day Tony nearly died from dehydration, his Tony and Big Tony had been working on a project that would allow his Tony to stay out of the water for a certain period of time without falling ill. That, and Tony’s stubbornness of leaving his tank longer and longer allowed him to leave the water for a longer stretch of time. Still, Steve couldn’t tamp down the slight rush of fear as Tony crawled down his tank over to him because he still remembered the yellow pallor of his friend from that day, nearly dying because he wasn’t there to protect his friend.

Tony didn’t have those qualms. Instead, he wrapped two of his tentacles around Steve’s neck, hugging him gently and climbing atop of him. He blew happy bubbles at Steve, and Steve grinned. It was a wonderful greeting - Steve could determine the way Tony’s melodic voice rose and fell that Tony was just as happy to see him. He turned, reaching a hand out to Tony’s face, and kissed him passionately.

The feelings sparked down his spine, just like the first time they did this, and it would never be the last. They shared another kiss, Tony circling his tentacles around Steve’s waist.

“Bwubwubweeee?” Tony asked. He pointed towards the Christmas tree that was by the living room window and tugged at Steve’s arm.

Steve looked at the Christmas tree before looking back at Tony. Tony was looking intently at the tree, urging Steve on. He could never disobey his friend, so he began to trot down the table with the staircase that Big Tony created for him at the side of the table. Tony’s tentacles squeezed slightly tighter around Steve’s body even though they both knew that Steve would never do anything to harm Tony, especially when he’s on his back. Still, he liked the warmth and the pressure.

Slowly, gently, the two made their way towards the tree. Already there were presents under it, and many of the packages were larger than the two of them combined, wrapped up in both nice and gaudy wrapping paper. Tony leaned over Stever, pointing to a tiny package that was mostly hidden under the larger packages, and Steve had to push a few packages out of his way in order to reach it. He gently pried it from under yet another package.

Steve tried to hand the package to Tony, but Tony pushed it back to him with a soft smile.

“Bwue bwub,” he said, looking expectantly at the package.

The bow fluttered to the ground as Steve opened the present. Carefully, he worked his fingers under the tape that held the wrapping paper together, and then folded the sticky part over so that he could reuse the paper later. Tony blew bubbles in exasperation at his antics, but he smiled all the same. 

The present tumbled out of its wrapping and fell to the floor. Carefully, Steve picked the sweater up, jaw dropping in awe and in love. It was a soft white one, designed to perfectly fit his small size. Steve looked up at Tony grinning at him, and he chirped curiously.

Tony nodded. “Bwub bub bwee,” he answered. “Bweee bwub bwu.”

How Tony managed to hide making the sweater for a long time was astounding, but Steve loved it so much. He put it on, threading his arms through the holes. It was so warm and cozy, fitted well over his shoulder. Steve grabbed Tony and kissed him passionately in thanks, tearing up in happiness. He reluctantly pulled away when he ran out of breath. Tony looked just as dazed as he felt.

Steve turned to look at the pile of packages again, and he saw his own present. Clambering on top of a box, Steve reached out to another small present, and he strained when his fingers couldn’t quite reach. But then Tony’s tentacle was there, and he dragged it back to themselves before they fell over. Tony looked at it curiously, then looked at Steve curiously.

“Bwee bwub?” he asked, pointing to himself. Steve nodded.

Unlike Steve, Tony had no problems ripping apart the wrapping paper, and then he gasped as he pulled two very familiar icons: half of the Captain America shield and the Iron Man helmet were welded together to make something entirely new and special for just the two of them to signify who they were to each other.

Steve got Big Tony’s help when he dragged the drawing over to him, and with a lot of arm waving and grumbling, Big Tony finally got what he wanted to do. It was hard hiding this from Tony with the way Tony hung out with Big Tony a lot. Thankfully Big Steve was very good at distracting his Tony when Steve wanted Big Tony’s help.

Tony cried in happiness when he brushed a tentacle over Steve’s creation reverently, looking at it in awe. He looked at Steve with unshed tears in his eyes, and he squeezed Steve even tighter, blubbering in happiness and pressing against Steve’s lips reverently. 

Steve’s chest warmed in happiness, and he carried them back to their home.

**Author's Note:**

> I now have art to this fic!
> 
> TanakaYuuko drew [Octotony](https://kuronamidayuuko.tumblr.com/post/188010975821/tiny-octotony-inspired-by-mountainroses-teeny)! Edit: Now with [Centaur Steve](https://la-toratempesta.tumblr.com/post/188029929898/oh-no-its-too-cuuuuteeee) too!


End file.
